The invention relates to a motor vehicle door latch, with a locking mechanism comprising a catch and a pawl, whereby the pawl is adjacent to a ratchet contour of the catch with its bolting contour when the locking mechanism is closed.
The locking mechanism of a motor vehicle door latch is a core component of the latch because ultimately the locking mechanism ensures that a pertaining motor vehicle door is bolted and secured vis-à-vis the vehicle chassis. For this purpose, the locking mechanism comprising the catch and pawl is usually of a solid steel construction in order to be able to absorb significant forces arising at this point. In fact, for example a latch containing a locking mechanism is located inside a motor vehicle side door and typically interacts with a closure pin on the motor vehicle chassis, for example a B column.
Due to the relevance to safety of locking mechanisms, in the state of the art there have already been attempts to provide an improvement taking into account safety-related aspects and to intercept distortions in particular. In this context DE 42 19 429 C1 instructs a latch with a catch which can be activated by a locking bolt. The catch can be locked into place in a pre-ratchet and a main ratchet position by means of a pawl. The pawl not only demonstrates a blocking element, but also a safety blocking element.
In a similar way to the side door latches previously described, the tailgate latches are also constructed in which the latch is accommodated with the locking mechanism inside the tailgate, whereas the pertaining locking bolt is accommodated on a loading sill. Such tailgate latches or latches for the tailgate are now regularly motorically opened. For this purpose, a pertaining drive unit works on the pawl and lifts it out. Consequently, the catch is typically opened in a spring-supported manner and releases the locking bolt and thus the tailgate vis-à-vis the motor vehicle chassis.
Within the scope of the category-defining DE 296 12 524 U1 equipment is described for closing and tightening and opening a tailgate flap on a motor vehicle chassis. At this point a tightening lever is mounted on an escutcheon co-axially to the catch. The pawl is arranged eccentrically to the catch on the tightening lever and can thus be mechanically lifted off from the catch with the aid of the tightening lever. In actual fact, a mechanical coupling of the tightening function and the pawl activation is achieved in the conventional knowledge.
As the catch and pawl are solid for the reasons already described, ‘clack’ noises which are unwanted and considered bothersome often occur when the pawl is lifted off from the catch. These are often further supported and reinforced by the fact that the tailgate seals a boot space volume which acts or can act as a resonance volume in this regard. The invention intends to provide an overall remedy here.